Screw actuated hopper feeder



Aug. 17, 1954 G. D. MA'rr-:ER

SCREW ACTUATED HOPPER FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed- Jan. 24, 1950 ATTORNEYS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. D. MATEER SCREW ACTUATED HOPPER FEEDER I Aug. 17, 1954 Filed Jan. 24, 1950 p and referring to the drawings: l

Patented Aug. 17, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE SCREWACTUATED HOPPER FEEDER GeorgeDiehl Mateer, Ardmore, Pa. ApplicationjJanuary 24, 1950, Serial No. 140,200

(Cl. Z22- 378) 2` Claims. n 1 i l The present invention relates `to hopper feeders of the type especially suited to accurate dispens` ing: of highly viscousand plastic materials such as pasteVputties, thick" dispersione and plastic masses.

A purpose of the invention is to secure precise and accurate dispensing of highly viscous materials, avoiding premature cut offfandlavoiding appreciable overfeeding.

i A further purpose is to simplify the cleaning and maintenance of hopper dispensers for viscous materials. l l 1 l A `further purpose is ztoobtain positive feed of highlyyviscous materials from the hopper itself Without the use of a separate pump.

Afurther purpose is tomake the hopper interchangeablewith other types offeeders such as auger feeders.

A further purposeis to `dispense viscousma# terials 4at high temperatures.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims. l

In the drawings I have chosen to illustrate a few only of the numerous embodiments in `which my invention `may appear,` selecting the forms usually decreases markedly as the viscosity of the material fed increases, `and the problems of maintenance, especially cleaning, are correspondingly increased.

rEhe present invention makes it possible to obtain very accurate feeding of pastes, putties, vis cous dispersions and plastic masses, both at room temperature and at subnormal and elevated temperatures. Thus the invention is applicable to pasty masses of chemicals, foods, metallic salts, metals at elevated temperatures, thermoplastic materials in plastic condition, and the like.

The invention employs a screw-feeder which gives positive engagement, after the manner of U. S. Patent No. 1,892,217, but avoids the difficulty and complexity present in prior art dlevicesof this character in which the drive shaft has passed longitudinally through the rotor and been connected to the rotor at the far end. Instead of providing remote location of the pump, the pump is incorporated in the hopper and driven through the hopper, and discharge is effected immediately shown from the standpoints of convenience in l illustration, satisfactory operation and` clearl demonstration of the principles involved.-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary' perspective partially in vertical axial section showing the hopper feeder of the invention.-

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged axial section of the discharge end of the hopper.

Figure 3 is a section of Figure 2 on the line 3 3, with the rotor turned to contact the bac l of the stator. l l l `Figures 4 to 7 inclusive are diagrammatic sectional perspectives showing the operation of the` rotor in the stator.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary axial section corresponding toa portion of Figure 1 showing the replacement of the screw feeder by an auger feeder.l l l i Figure 9 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in axial section, showing the feeder of the ini/en` tion applied `toa heated vessel at elevated temperatures.

In the drawings like parts.r Y i Describing in illustration but `not `in limitation numerals `refer` to like The accurate feeding `ofhigh viscosity masses has proved tobedifcult, `not only because many feeders arel incapable of operating-` on such" materialsglbut also because` the accuracy of feeding@v at `the bottom of the screw, so that there is little or no opportunity for accumulation of any mass l of material which can cause overfeeding. The

January 5, w49, now Patent No. 2,641,384, issued` June 9, 1953, forUniversal Filler and incorporated herein by reference. l

No attempt will be made to describe the clutch or other means by which theldesired cycle or intermittency of the drive isaccomplished. It

' will be sufficient to point out that in the forms of both Figures 1 and 94 a pedestal 2e supports an electric motor 2i which drives a variable speed pulley 22, interconnecting by a belt 23 with a driven pulley 24 which interconnects through a suitable clutch mechanism with a main driven shaft 26.

The driven shaft `26 interconnects through an upper universal joint 2i with an intermediate driven shaft 28 which at its lower end connects by a lower universal joint 36 with a screw rotor 3l whichturns and laterally oscillates on an essentially vertical axis.

The bottom of the clutch mechanism in Figure 1 carries a bracket which removably supports a downwardly converging hopper t3 which contains the viscous material being fed.` Thehopper Y the stator.

33 at its lower end and desirably just below the universal joint 3U carries a mounting ring 34 which removably interconnects by thumb screws 35 with a surrounding collar St which supports a stator housing 3l'. Inside the stator housing 1s mounted a double internal screw stator 38 which cooperates with the single screw rotor. Immediately below the stator and immediately below the lower end of the rotor is a short discharge nozzle 4B having an extremely short discharge opening l and suitably removably held in place by a spring locking ring :i2 which engages notches not shown in the stator housing.

The construction of the rotor and stator will be best understood by reference to Figures 2 to '7. The stator is a double internal helical thread each half of which in cross section as seen in Figure 3 is semicircular. All transverse sections of the thread are the same except in angle and correspond to Figure 3. The rotor is of a circular cross section as shown in Figure 3 and the diameterof the circle of the rotor cross section is substantially identical with the diameter of the semicircle at the ends of the cross section of As viewed in Figure 3 the distance between the longitudinal axis of the stator and the center of the cross section of the rotor when the rotor is in its limiting position as shown in lFigure 3 is equal to twice the eccentricity of the rotor.

As seen in Figures 4, 5, 6 and '7, if the rotor is turning counterclockwise when viewed from the top, it will progressively exert a wedging action downward or exert a downward pumping action. The line of contact between the stator and the rotor, which appears at the right hand side of the rotor in Figure 4 moves progressively around the rotor and is at the left hand side of the rotor in Figure 7.

Thus the rotor goes through a compound movement consisting of rotation about its axis and eccentric action caused by its contact with the contour ofthe stator which makes its axis travel in a 'circular path corresponding with the ec- Y substitute collar 36.

In some cases it is desired to control the temperature of the material being fed. Figure 9 shows a device similar to that of Figures 1 to '7 inclusive, in which the hopper 33 is replaced by a pot 33 having a jacket il heated as by electrical resistor 48 Vcontrolled at 5d. A thermocouple or other temperature controller I desirably extends intothe pot. The stator and rotor in this form are conveniently identical with that of Figures 1 to 7' except that the stator housing 3l' is suitably fastened as by bolting at 52 in the bottom of the pot and is desirably mounted eccentrically at a low point of the pot, suitably near one corner.

Thetaper of the discharge nozzle is preferably made very abrupt at 53 so that a minimum of material will be contained in the discharge nozzle interior.k This has the advantage that there is very little material whichcan overfeed and also very little material which must be removed in cleaning.

In operation the hopper will be filled and the drive shaft will operate on any suitable intermittent cycle to feed at the required intervals as determined by the clutch 25. When the drive shaft turns, the contact of the helix of the rotor with the double helical threads of the stator will cause any given cross section of the rotor as that of Figure 3 to move laterally back and forth across the stator cross section, exerting a forward wedging action on the material to be fed. As the rotor thus moves eccentrically the universal joints maintain driving connection. There is no possibility of the material being pumped into the interior of the rotor or clogging the same, since the driving shaft does not pass through the rotor. The rotor is conveniently solid or at least closed so that the material fed cannot enter the interior of the rotor.

It is thus possible to secure very reliable feeding notwithstanding that the materials fed may be reaction mixtures, or gritty or abrasive or highly viscous fluids or plastics.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

I-Iaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a dispenser apparatus for dispensing accurate quantities of viscous plastic material contained therein, a hopper having downwardly converging side Ywalls forming a funnel toV provide continuous and even flowof material downwardly in said hopper to its Vlowermost discharge end portion, a discharge opening in said lowermost portion of said hopper, a ring mounted on said lowermost hopper portion, a collar removably secured to said ring, Va housingsupportedby said collar and communicating with'said discharge opening, a rotor and metal stator mechanism arranged in said housing which is operable for accurately controlling the discharge of said'plastic material whereby accumulation of material and over-feeding is avoided, said mechanismV consisting of ai double screw stator which cooperates with a single screw rotor, a nozzle disposed in the lower end of said casing and communicating with the lower end of said casing and communieating with the lower end of said stator and rotor mechanism, a drive shaft extending verticallyv being rotatable on its vertical axis'through itsV universalconnection with'said intermediate shaft to exert a progressive wedging action downwardly whereby accurate increment amounts' of said plastic material are withdrawn from said hopper j and delivered to said nozzle.

2. In a dispenser apparatus for dispensing accurate quantities'of viscous plastic material contained therein, a hopper havingdownwardly converging sidewalls forming a funnel to provide continuous and even iiow of material downwardlyf infsaid hopper to its lowermost dischargeend; portion, a discharge opening in'sai'd lowermost:

portion of said hopper, a ring mounted on said lowermost hopper portion, a collar removably secured to said ring, a housing supported by said collar and communicating with said discharge opening, a rotor and stator mechanism arranged in siaid housing which is operable for accurately controlling the discharge of said plastic material whereby accumulation of material and overfeeding is avoided, said mechanism consisting of a double screw stator which cooperates with a single screw rotor, a nozzle disposed in the lower end of said casing and communicating with the lower end of said stator and rotor mechanism, said nozzle having an internal tapered wall structure whereby a minimum amount of material is contained therein to prevent overfeeding of material from the nozzle, a drive shaft extending vertically into said hopper, an intermediate driven shaft connected to said drive shaft, universal joint connections disposed at opposite ends of said intermediate shaft, said last-mentioned shaft being connected at its upper end through the universal joint to said drive shaft and at its lower end to said screw rotor, and means for removably securing said collar supporting said housing to said ring mounted on said hopper, said screw rotor being rotatable on its vertical axis through its universal connection with said intermediate shaft to exert a progressive wedging action downwardly whereby accurate increment amounts of said plastic material are withdrawn from said hopper and delivered to said nozzle.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 551,852 Desgoie Dec. 24, 1895 1,282,318 Thull Oct. 22, 1918 1,658,247 Lower et al. Feb. 7, 1928 1,752,956 Lex Apr. 1, 1930 1,892,217 Moineau Dee. 27, 1932 2,369,359 MacWilliam et al. Feb. 13, 1945 2,525,256 Byram Oct. 10, 1950 2,525,973 Sundstrom et al. Oct. 17, 1950 

